Securing cylindrical erasers to one end of a pencil using a metal sheath has been known for many years. The usual method involves pushing the sheath onto the pencil from its conically tapered end and then, after the insertion of the eraser into the sheath, radially deforming the sheath, with these operations taking place sequentially.
In the apparatus described by German laid-open application DE-OS No. 23 56 071, the individual production steps were successfully united into a continuous operation. However, the transport drums for the pencils provided in that apparatus necessitate a relatively expensive holder for the drums, and the distance between the individual pencils has to be relatively great, because one individual processing tool is assigned to each individual pencil. The processing speed thereby attainable is accordingly not yet satisfactory.